A Tire Swing Story is a bite-sized "imagining" inspired by an object I discover while wandering. It could be a curbside trash gem or a message sprayed on a wall. A lost mitten, or an antique store find. Anything goes. I photograph the object and post them together, the story and its inspiration. There will be a new story every Monday and Wednesday. On Fridays, I'll discuss writing, life, love, and coffee. (In no particular order and maybe all at once.)

Friday, January 27, 2012

"I am not Daddy's little girl. I'm a mountain lion in a skirt, with prayers in my heart." -SARK

In honor of my 200th blog post, I am giving away one of four prizes. Each prize is from an amazing, brave woman entrepreneur who I feel honored to know. The winner can chose either:

In the "comments" field of this blog post, simply enter the name of a woman who inspires you, someone you feel is a real: "mountain lion in a skirt." (Whether or not this gal actually wears a skirt is of course, irrelevant. If selected YOU win the prize, not this woman. You are more than welcome to give it to her if you like, though!)

Winner will be selected at random and announced Monday February 20th.

MORE INFO:

GUYS ARE TOTALLY WELCOME TO ENTER! (we're celebrating bold women in this particular contest, but we also honor those fantastic, trail-blazing men out there.)

At the risk of sounding totally vain, or that that someone may think that I think I am better than anyone else, let me preface by saying I DON'T. However, I would like to say that I am a mountain lion in a skirt. I am not going to nominate myself, HOWEVER for the first time on a public forum, I am going to admit that I was abused as a child by my father. In 2009, I finally told my husband/grown children what had happened to me and began counselling to allow myself to start healing. The first year was absolute hell. I would be lying if I said there were not times that I wished God would have just allowed me to die, the pain was so deep. But I kept putting one foot in front of the other. Got up each morning and prayed that God would allow me to get through each moment at at time. In that time, I also confronted both of my parents about the abuse, and in the process felt that I became an orphan. I would say that this is the most difficult journey I have ever been on. Although I have felt weak, alone and incredibly sad at times, my sweet 26 yr old daughter has been so quick to remind me that I am the strongest woman that she knows. This encourages me to keep going, and I store these comments from her deep in my heart. Again, I say, I do not nominate myself, however I wanted to say that I am am proud that I am a SURVIVOR.

Brittany, thank you for your kind words. But I really and truly did not post that to get a nomination, and therefore I will kindly decline yours. Since starting down this journey, I have met many people who have been through so much more than I have. For you, your sister Rachel inspires you, and so it should be. I am not quite sure why I posted what I did. I think, perhaps it felt like the right time to actually say it aloud with my name attached to it. Brittany, you share your heart through your stories and make it easy for people to open up and in turn share their journeys. Thank you for that...

I nominate my Sister, Bev. She's a mountain lion for sure although most of the time she's in a police uniform rather than a skirt. She's a strong sensitive woman that follows her heart and protects the streets of Toronto all in a day's work.

No fair Britt! There are too many inspiring women to name! Buffy Sainte Marie, Francoise Gilot, Annie Leibovitz, Joni Mitchell, Suze Rotolo, and countless more... All the fearless ladies who dare to be different and fight for what they love! xox-Melissa Horner

Jess, my best friend, is chasing her dreams, no matter the cost. She is breaking old habits, filling herself with knowledge and carving her own path to fulfillment. She carries on, despite challenges and hardship, and insists on doing it all by herself 'cause she's learning to stand on her own.

I feel that to be born a woman and to live her deepest truth, one must be born with a lion's heart. For the ability to blaze trails I can hardly imagine forging, I nominate my grandmothers, Sylva and Helen, Gramma Sue, to all Grandma's everywhere, bless and thank you!

Well, I was going to say Bev Dobbs but thanks for ruining that Jaime. My second in line for nomination is the great Tina Fey. It's so hard to find famous women who aren't hypersexualized or sexualize themselves in the media. The lowest common denominator. Tina always gives me a great laugh and reminds me that smarts and observations are more important than how you fill out a dress.

It's hard to pick one. Too hard. The one that comes to mind most prominently though is Aung San Suu Kyi. I don't think there are too many human beings on the planet with courage like that. To put your life on the line year after year, day after day under the constant threat of assassination when you could walk free if you just gave up what's true in your heart--to have that kind of faith in the truth--that inspires me. I can hardly look at a photo of her without feeling moved to some degree. That woman is pure, raw, deep spiritual power of the sort that can move mountains and make armies take a step back, almost literally.

Closer to home though, I'd have to say Alison and Aly are both pretty inspiring too.

Aly because she always manages to balance everything that she desires to get out of life without seeming to compromise, and I've seen very few people manage that--very inspiring.

Alison because she's managed to let go of her grip on her life 'plans' to follow where her heart was really calling her, in the present, and found so much success and flow in it. That's inspiring to me; it's not an easy thing to do.

My beautiful best friend Bev for whom my own daughter...the aforementioned Bev was named. She's a true mountain lion who has fought and scratched to keep her head above water her whole life. She has an incredible spirit that can't be squashed....not by hate or abuse....both of which she has survived. I love this woman!

Claudia. I worked with her at a brewery. We would greet each other at seven in the morning with coffees in hand and dark circles under our eyes, her’s a little darker from working late at her second job cleaning office buildings the night before. Originally from Columbia, Claudia came to Canada after having found the the love of her life and then lost him abruptly after their marriage to heart failure. But this woman is not afraid to love again, even at seven in the morning, with a day ahead of unloading dirty beer bottles onto a conveyor belt, Claudia shows up for work with her heart open. That’s a mountain lion.

My grandmother, Ursule. Tough as nails, can legit knock someone out with a side headlock, can talk for 12 minutes straight without taking a breath and just kicked the snot out of breast cancer at the ripe young age of... well actually, I don't know how old she is as I always wish her a happy 35th birthday every year.

She also had the forethought to create my mom so she could in turn create me, thus saving the world.

ok ok!! ... I did actually think I had another week to ponder this. LOVE the mountain lion inspiration. Coco Chanel it is. A mood thing I think. She was creative, successful, innovative, and elegant - qualities I admire and in this transitional time in my life feel inspired by. LOVE you Britt. Thanks for another ridiculous Sunday!! xo

About Me

I’m a freelance writer, currently based in Toronto, but I am prone to wandering off. In addition to storytelling, I am fond of spontaneous hikes, skinny dipping and cooking without recipes. If you like what I do, please feel free to contact me. I’m interested in collaborating on projects. I am also currently seeking representation.